Welcome back, everybody!  This is Rick Pettigrew.  We have four fascinating news stories for you today from this past week of Archaeologica.  Send us feedback on The Archaeology Channel Facebook page or post a message on our social networking site, ArchaeoSeek!

A new study offers many lines of evidence to argue that an exploding comet brought about an end to North American megafauna as well as the Clovis culture.  Examination of the world’s oldest mummies in southeast Asia shows that they were smoke-dried.  A thorough analysis of an artfully sculpted marble head from a Roman-era site in Crimea points to the identity of the woman it depicts.  And a newly found submerged port in Egypt offers hope that the tomb of Cleopatra can be found.

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And now, here’s Zayne Clayton, in for Laura Kennedy, with the Audio News from Archaeologica!  We hope you find this to be a valuable part of your day!

Welcome to the Audio News from Archaeologica!  I’m Zayne Clayton, filling in for Laura Kennedy, and these are the headlines in archaeological and historical news for the week of September 14th through the 20th, 2025.

We begin this week in the southwestern United States, where archaeologists have identified evidence of an era-defining comet explosion some 13,000 years ago.

As reported by Phys.org, three archaeological sites were the focus of this study: Murray Springs in Arizona, Blackwater Draw in New Mexico, and Arlington Canyon, located on California’s Channel Islands.  Here, the research team located “shocked” quartz — grains of sand that had been deformed by extreme pressures and temperatures.

James Kennett, UC Santa Barbara Professor Emeritus of Earth Science, led the research team that analyzed these locations.  Kennett, together with other archaeologists, has spent decades building the case for the so-called Younger Dryas impact hypothesis.

According to this view, the explosion of a fragmented comet over Earth may have played a key role in the extinction of the megafauna that roamed the region at the time, including mammoths and mastodons, as well as the disappearance of the Clovis culture.  These groups vanished as the Younger Dryas cool episode began.  This millennia-long period was a sudden return to near ice-age conditions, occurring during what had been an overall warming out of the Last Glacial Period.

Archaeologists have long debated what set off the beginning of this episode.  According to Kennett, the explosion of a fragmented comet may have sent shockwaves and extreme heat to Earth.  This would have triggered widespread burning, generating smoke, soot, and dust that blocked the sun, causing an impact winter.  The impact and the harsh conditions it triggered may have made the climate inhospitable for the megafauna and Clovis people alike. 

As described in the journal PLOS One, Kennett’s team utilized a variety of techniques to analyze the minerals found at the California, Arizona and New Mexico sites.  They found that the grains had been shocked at very high temperatures and pressures, far outside of what could have been caused by volcanic or ancient human activity.  Although no impact crater is in evidence, shocked quartz is a significant indicator of a comet’s explosion.  Cosmic collisions that take place above earth’s surface, known as touchdown airbursts, tend not to leave significant evidence on the earth’s landscape.

Given the other impact proxies identified in the same layer of sediment as the shocked quartz, including nanodiamonds and carbon-rich black mat, this study’s findings point to the hypothesized cosmic playing a major role in the story this region’s megafaunal extinctions and Clovis culture collapse.

Next, we head to southeast Asia, where a recent study is shedding new light on the history of human mummification.

As reported by Live Science, an analysis of ancient graves in China, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Laos has revealed something new about the world’s oldest known human mummies.  Created 10,000 years ago, they predate the practice of mummification in Egypt and Chile.

As the research team detailed in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, these mummies were the result of binding the deceased individual in a tight fetal position and treating the body with an extended period of smoke-drying over a low fire before burial.

They arrived at this conclusion by utilizing X-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy to examine the skeletons found in these graves.  They had noticed that the remains showed evidence of burning while the graves did not, pointing to a ritual for the body of some kind that incorporated fire and smoke.

A number of the remains showed evidence of low-intensity heating and discoloration caused by soot, differing from the signatures caused by a direct combustion process like cremation.  These findings indicate that this specific mortuary practice involving the smoking of the corpse was shared among pre-farming communities in the region.

The creation of smoke-dried mummies continues among people groups in Southeast Asia today, including the Dani and Pumo in Indonesia.  By observing these groups carrying out this practice, researchers were able to infer how their ancestors arrived at a similar result.

According to Hsiao-chun Hung, lead author of the study and a senior research fellow at the Australian National University, this practice of smoking likely held spiritual, religious and cultural significance, going beyond simply preserving the body.

The presence of these hyperflexed mummies may also support the two-layer view of ancient migration into Southeast Asia.  This model posits that the hunter-gatherers who arrived in the area as early as 65,000 years ago were distinct from the Neolithic farmers who wouldn’t migrate to the region until 4,000 years ago.

How these ancient hunter-gatherers found that a body could be preserved by smoking is still unknown, but it suggests a desire to hold onto the presence of one’s ancestors and loved ones, keeping them among the living in a tangible way.

We now visit Crimea, in Ukraine, where an interdisciplinary team of researchers has finally identified a woman depicted in a piece of an ancient marble sculpture unearthed in 2003.  To solve this mystery, they drew on their knowledge of archaeology, chemistry and art history. 

As reported by Arkeo News, archaeologists recovered this marble head during excavations in the ancient Greek city of Chersonesus Taurica [care-SOH-nuh-sus TOR-ee-kah]], located in today’s seaside city of Sevastopol [sah-VAST-oh-paul].  

Found in the semi-basement of a large Roman house near the town’s theater and agora [AG-oh-ruh], the marble head had been sitting alongside coins, pottery and a ceramic altar depicting Artemis and Apollo.  These artifacts provided context that guided the research team as they worked to date and analyze the bust, allowing them to be precise at a level usually not possible for an ancient sculpture.  Reporting in the journal Nature, the research team detailed the various methods they used to illuminate the sculpture’s story. 

According to radiocarbon dating of the charcoal in the strata surrounding the head, the piece had most likely been placed there towards the end of the 2nd century AD.  Microchemical and X-ray fluorescence studies indicated that the statue had been carefully and intentionally maintained, revealing traces of red iron oxide pigment and evidence of repairs.

The sculpture’s softened and elegant, yet aged, features are a blend of Roman realism and Greek idealism.  The woman’s hair was in a style similar to those in contemporary depictions of empresses. 

With these clues, the research team put the most important piece of evidence into context: inscriptions on a pedestal found in the city.  The monument notes that the city of Chersonesus had erected a statue of Laodice [lay-OH-duh-see], a woman from a prominent family, in honor of her services to her community.  

According to the study, she used her political influence to assist with the town’s bid for eleutheria [el-you-THER-ee-ah], or free city status, within the Roman Empire—a unique position that granted the city autonomy while preserving its ties to Rome.  While the exact role she played is unknown, the importance of her work to her fellow citizens is clear.

Finally, we arrive in Egypt, where the unlikely discovery of an ancient port could be the next step to solving a millennia-old mystery: the location of Cleopatra’s tomb.

As reported by Heritage Daily, archaeologist Kathleen Martinez led a team of underwater archaeologists—including Bob Ballard, who found the RMS Titanic—that located a vast port 12 meters below surface level in Lake Mareotis [mar-ee-OH-tis].  

Before this port was submerged, it would have been close to the Taposiris [ta-puh-SEE-ris] Magna temple complex, which was built by the pharaoh Ptolemy [TAHL-oh-mee] the Second Philadelphus between 280 and 270 BC.  This trade hub was a central location for products transported across the lake, as well as goods that were on their way to Alexandria. 

In AD 365, a tsunami triggered by the 365 Crete earthquake hit Egypt’s northern coast, burying the port—and the potential tomb site—underwater.  The combination of additional seismic activity and rising sea levels over the years caused other cities along the coastline to sink or be submerged. 

According to Martinez, the team identified a number of structures at this underwater location, some standing as high as 6 meters.  These included columns, cement blocks, polished stone floors, and anchors and amphora dating to Cleopatra’s reign.

In 2022. Martinez discovered an underground tunnel spanning 1,300 meters.  She believes that Cleopatra’s body was transported to Traposiris Magna and moved through this tunnel towards the port.  Afterwards, she was buried at an undisclosed site—a location Martinez feels she’s one step closer to finding. 

That wraps up the news for this week!

For more stories and daily news updates, visit Archaeologica on the World Wide Web at www.archaeologica.org where all the news is history! Also, be sure to check out our growing subscription platform, Heritage Broadcasting Service, at heritagetac.org!

This is Zayne Clayton, signing out.  Laura Kennedy will be back next time!